Tuesday, April 05, 2011

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...4-6-'11

A missing 68-year-old man from Pike County, Ky. has been found dead. A Golden Alert was issued for Robert Hamilton Monday night after he was last seen in the Virgie area Monday morning.

Kentucky State Police Trooper, Shaun Little says Hamilton was found dead around 1:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon about a mile from his residence. Search crews from the Pike County EMS and the Shelby Valley Fire Department took part in the search for Hamilton.

More arrests have been made and officials are searching for six more in a Floyd County drug roundup. Sheriff's deputies say all of the people are accused of bringing pills from Florida and Georgia to Floyd County to sell.

Bush & Burchett of Allen plans to begin construction of a bridge connecting the community of Concord in Johnson County to KY 40 on April 18. The Floyd County company was awarded the $3.4 million contract March 1 and held its preconstruction meeting with Highway District 12 officials last week. There has never been a bridge connecting KY 1145 to KY 40, said Doug Wright, resident engineer for Highway District 12. This new bridge will provide much faster and safer access to US 23 and US 460. Access to Concord and Thealka by first responders and other service providers will also be enhanced.

Through Apr. 3, preliminary statistics indicate that 141 people have lost their lives on Kentucky roadways during 2011. This is 28 fewer than reported for this time period in 2010. Of the 117 motor vehicle fatalities, 67 victims were not wearing seat belts. Of the four
motorcycle fatalities, three were not wearing helmets. Two of the three ATV fatalities were not wearing helmets. Seventeen pedestrians have been killed. A total of 19 fatalities have resulted from crashes involving the suspected use of alcohol.

The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) and the Kentucky Genealogical Society (KGS) will host a free family-history workshop focused on KHS cemetery preservation resources from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in downtown Frankfort. Ann Johnson, KHS cemetery preservation program coordinator, will discuss KHS resources available to family historians and cemetery preservationists. These resources include tracking databases, advice on legal issues governing property and descendent rights, stone cleaning and rubbing techniques and cemetery mapping practices. The workshop will also feature Phil DiBlasi, staff archaeologist at the University of Louisville, who will discuss the use of GPS to document cemeteries. There will also be an on-site visit to Frankfort Cemetery for a stone cleaning and GPS demonstration.

As part of a national level EXERCISE on May 16, 2011, a major earthquake will rock the mid-South and unleash an unprecedented level of destruction upon more than eight states. Unlike other forecasts of doom, this prediction is based on the certainty of a National Level Exercise (NLE) scheduled to put local, state and federal officials through the paces of responding to a catastrophic earthquake in the heart of the United States. Unlike the weather, experts cannot predict when and where an earthquake may occur. However, we can tell you with certainty what will happen in Kentucky during the EXERCISE on May 16, 2011: A 7.7 earthquake will strike the New Madrid Seismic Zone in Western Kentucky and the impact on the Commonwealth during the EXERCISE will include:
Approximately 235,000 people will seek shelter
330,000 households will be without power
Approximately 6,500 will be injured
Approximately 300 deaths will occur
68,500 buildings will be damaged
Critical infrastructure will be damaged or destroyed
250 bridges damaged or destroyed, limiting transportation into and out of the impacted area
Communications will be greatly impaired or fail
Emergency responders will scramble to get information from the area and local emergency management will be limited getting information out
The Tier I exercise, known as NLE 2011, will simulate the decisions and actions that top officials should be prepared to take in the first 96-hours after such a devastating earthquake. This is the first NLE to focus on a natural hazard, rather than a terrorism-focused scenario.
"Is Kentucky ready for a 7.7 earthquake? No.

A public workers rally -- billed as a "block party" -- was held in downtown Louisville as part of a national day of solidarity to defend the public sector. About 200 people attended the Monday evening event to support collective bargaining rights for Kentucky's public sector workers. Musicians, including the Grammy-nominated Nappy Roots, played to a home crowd in a show of support. The rally was relocated to the Kentucky International Convention Center from an outdoor venue at Jefferson Square due to rainy, windy weather.

Keeneland is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a new book about the history of the central Kentucky race course. "Keeneland: A Thoroughbred Legacy" is the third in a series and includes 12 chapters written by local authors. Veteran Kentucky journalist Al Smith says the book is a reminder that Keeneland is a special source of pride to the community. The 231-page book sells for $39.95. Profits are to be distributed through the Keeneland Foundation to various community non-profit organizations. The book is available at the gift shop at Keeneland, which opens Friday for its three-week spring meet.

Top University of Kentucky officials say they're in the final stages of the school's presidential search and hope to make the selection May 3. In a campuswide e-mail Monday, UK Board of Trustees Chairman Britt Brockman and search committee Chairman Jim Stuckert laid out a tentative schedule leading to the selection of the next president. They said the search committee will meet April 11 in hopes of forwarding three to five finalists to trustees. Under their timetable, trustees are scheduled to meet April 30 in northern Kentucky to review the finalists, then interview them the next day. That evening, the trustees will vote for a preferred candidate who will be introduced. The finalist will visit the Lexington campus on May 2, and the next day will come a final decision.

The death toll has risen to six people after fast moving storms hit the South with high winds, hail, lightning and power outages.
Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Lisa Janak says four people have been killedin Georgia, two of them, a father and son who died when a tree fell onto a home in Butts County. Dodge and Colquitt counties also each had a death.
Tennessee and Mississippi also each have reported a death related to the storms.

A fourth mistrial has been declared in the case of a former Fort Campbell sergeant accused of killing his estranged wife and her former mother-in-law. Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision after deliberating through the afternoon and into the evening Monday, Brent Burke was being tried on murder charges in the death of Tracy Burke and Karen Comer in 2007 in Rineyville. The trial started three weeks ago. It is the fourth time Burke has faced the charges. Two mistrials were declared when witnesses were unavailable, and a jury last year was unable to reach a verdict. A new hearing is scheduled for April 26. Prosecutors wouldn't comment since the case is continuing, and the families of Traci Burke and Comer left without commenting.

Paintings, lithographs, mixed media works and photographs by 26 Kentucky artists are on display in the Governor's Derby Exhibit through May 10 in the Capitol Rotunda. The show's theme is spring, and it is part of the Governor's Derby Celebration More than 200 entries were submitted to be considered for the show. The exhibit is open during public visiting hours at the Capitol, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and during the Governor's Derby Celebration on Kentucky Derby Day, May 7.